Byron E. Grote

Biographical Details
"After receiving a PhD in quantitative analysis from Cornell University, Byron joined Standard Oil of Ohio in 1979. During the next five years he took on management responsibilities in international oil supply planning, logistics and crude oil trading.  In 1985, he became director of planning for Standard Oil’s mining subsidiary, Kennecott, and in 1986 he was appointed vice-president of retail sales.

"Following BP’s acquisition of the Standard Oil minority, Byron was appointed in 1988 as commercial-vice president for the company's Alaskan production activities. The next year he relocated to London to become commercial general manager for BP Exploration. In 1992 he became group treasurer and chief executive officer of BP Finance, before moving to Colombia to become regional chief executive. 1995 saw him return to London as deputy chief executive officer of BP Exploration.

"Byron became group chief of staff in 1997 and, following the merger of BP and Amoco, in 1999 he was appointed executive vice-president for Exploration and Production. During 1999 and 2000 he was responsible for directing the acquisition of ARCO and managing the integration of their operations into BP. In 2000 he joined the board of BP plc and became chief executive of BP Chemicals. In 2002 he was appointed to his current post of chief financial officer.

"Besides his contribution at BP, Byron has also served as vice-chairman of the UK Government’s Public Services Productivity Panel and chairman of the Chemicals Innovation and Growth Team. He has also sat on advisory panels around the world, assisting the UK Government’s Asia Task Force, the Governor of Guangdong Province in China and the Johnson School of Management at Cornell."


 * Director, Unilever